Taoist Priest 09

After I told Master about the girl in white who jumped from the building, he didn’t scold me, but he didn’t intervene either. He just told me to figure out what went wrong on my own.

This time when he returned, he left me a notebook, saying it contained the culmination of his life’s work. If I could understand even half of it, I’d have truly inherited his teachings. Not long after, he left again, leaving only me and the newly arrived Senior Sister behind.

Being around her always felt oppressive. Every day, she either drew talismans or practiced martial arts. She even converted my napping spot into a sandbag training area, and I didn’t dare argue.

The ghosts in the shop didn’t dare argue either.

When I was around, they did as they pleased—gnawing on candles when they wanted, playing mahjong when they felt like it. But after Senior Sister arrived, they seemed to sense danger and became as well-behaved as kindergarteners.

“Your Senior Sister was born with the Yin-Yang Eyes. She’s destined for this path,” Sister Hong whispered to me.

I was a little envious. The Yin-Yang Eyes must be impressive, right?

To be fair, Senior Sister was quite capable. She had a knack for business—ever since she arrived, the incense and candle shop’s profits grew day by day. I didn’t know how much Master had taught her, but she even took on exorcism jobs, dragging me along to carry her bags.

After a while, Zhou Wen showed up.

I was surprised. He said he’d thought it over and finally decided to believe ghosts existed.

While we were catching up, he spotted Senior Sister, and his eyes practically glued themselves to her. From that day on, he came by almost daily. Where I used to be the one buying meals, now he brought them himself.

I didn’t mind. It lightened my workload.

Master’s absence stretched on—three whole months. When he finally returned, he brought two unfamiliar faces with him.

“This is your senior brother,” Master said, pointing at a young man with dyed blond hair. Then he gestured to another, more upright-looking youth. “And this… is also your senior brother.”

I started to wonder if our sect’s rule was that the later you joined, the higher your seniority.

Later, I realized it might just be because I was too weak.

Second Senior Brother asked me to fetch his tools for a job dealing with a reanimated corpse—an old man. He promised me a third of the payment, but when I saw him conjure thunder with his bare hands, I felt like my cut was too generous.

Third Senior Brother liked wandering the streets. His appearance even got him stopped by the police a few times for ID checks. But he was a good guy. The day I escaped Senior Sister’s clutches, I tagged along with him, and we both spotted a vengeful spirit in red on the road. Just as a truck approached, she was trying to push a girl into its path.

I reached for my tools, but Third Senior Brother was faster—he kicked the ghost straight into the middle of the road.

To bystanders, though, it looked like he was attacking a pedestrian. He got taken in for questioning, but before leaving, he told me to take the ghost back.

More people meant more ghosts, and soon the shop couldn’t hold them all. Master was perpetually broke—whenever he scraped together some money, it vanished just as fast for one reason or another.

So Eldest Senior Sister rented an entire floor under her name and opened a cultural company.

Personally, I suspected she’d embezzled shop funds, but I kept that thought to myself. Watching Master sprawl shamelessly on the office’s plush sofa, I had an epiphany: So this was how you dealt with financial misfortune?

I once tried to get Zhou Wen to join as a disciple, but he refused outright—he wanted nothing to do with this world. So I begged Eldest Senior Sister to stabilize his mind, ensuring he’d see fewer supernatural things from then on.

Of course, his pursuit of her never stopped.

I returned to school—today was my graduation, and also the day I’d fulfill a wish: to take away the girl still trapped in her endless fall.

Third Senior Brother asked if I needed help, but I declined. They were all stronger than me, and it made me feel useless.

Under cover of night, I carefully set up a formation at the base of the building. The materials were gathered from places steeped in dark energy—rumor had it this could break the curse binding the spirit here.

But before I could act, faint voices echoed from above. I bolted upstairs—what idiot would come here at this hour? Meeting that earthbound spirit meant certain death.

Out of breath, I reached the stairwell only to find a young man and woman, dressed in matching outfits. One held a coin sword, the other a Bagua mirror.

They turned to look at me in unison.

I froze. Apart from our sect, I’d never met other practitioners in this city—most here were frauds.

When I didn’t react, they assumed I was just an exploring student. Working together, they charged forward, trying to subdue the earthbound spirit with their tools. I realized then—they meant to destroy her outright.

I pulled out my Qiankun Umbrella and lunged, shielding the girl beneath it. The ghost stared at me blankly, and I stared back. It must’ve looked dramatic.

“Qiankun Umbrella? A fellow practitioner?” the man called from behind.

The girl snapped, “Protecting a ghost? You must be a dark practitioner!”

Hearing “dark practitioner” reminded me of Third Senior Brother. He’d said when Master took him in, they’d also encountered another practitioner who accused him of being evil—so Master knocked out the guy’s front teeth.

“She’s never harmed anyone,” I said. An earthbound spirit that killed wouldn’t be trapped here. The only one she’d ever targeted was Zhou Wen, and she’d failed.

The man said coolly, “Never harmed anyone? Look at her clothes!”

I glanced down at the ghost’s white dress—the hem was tinged dark red, a sign of an earthbound spirit turning malevolent.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but I couldn’t let them have her today. “This is my territory. You don’t get to act here.” I rose slowly.

“Definitely a dark practitioner!” The woman sneered, raising her Bagua mirror.

The man’s expression turned grave. He cupped his hands slightly. “Apologies, fellow Daoist.”

They advanced together. But what they didn’t know was that from the day I joined, Master’s first lesson was combat. He said whether facing ghosts or people, you had to “reason” with them first—and when he said “reason,” he’d clenched his fist.

I wasn’t the best student, but under Eldest Senior Sister’s supervision, I’d improved.

Watching the two now groaning on the ground, I turned without hesitation to the ghost. “Are you coming willingly, or do I drag you?”

After a long pause, she shook her head. “I can’t leave.”

“You can.” I was brimming with confidence. And just as I said, the Yin-cursed items had broken the building’s hold. I led her out and back to Eldest Senior Sister’s company.